‘It was always the boys down here’: Tanya Tucker joins long list of stars with bars on Broadway

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – You may know her best for her hit Delta Dawn. Now 50 years later, Tanya Tucker is joining the likes of a number of stars with bars on Lower Broadway.

“It was always the boys down here on Broadway and there is another half to country music – us girls,” Tanya laughed, calling it a long-time dream.

The Country Music Hall of Famer kicked off the opening of Tanya Tucker’s Tequila Cantina Thursday afternoon by making a one of a kind entrance, riding a stallion on Broadway.

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“Cosa Salvaje I call him, that’s his stage name. Really his name is Lauwe, but I call him Cosa Salvaje because he is the face of my tequila. Kind of like a mascot, so to speak,” she said.

In partnership with Nudie’s Honky Tonk, Tanya’s cantina is on the second floor of the Broadway bar and features her tequila brand Cosa Salvaje.

The country legend’s name is the latest in a growing list of stars with bars in Music City.

“From Garth Brooks to Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs has a bar coming, everybody wants their name in neon on Broadway,” Nashville Historian David Ewing explained.

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It’s a trend Ewing said took off in the last five to 10 years. Before that, most bars like Tootsies, Layla’s, and Robert’s boasted the owners’ names. Tanya is one of the few female artists to join the evolution.

“I always thought I’m one of the boys anyway,” Tanya laughed.

Ewing said Tanya represents the legacy of what the area of town used to be when the Grand Ole Opry was at the Ryman Auditorium until 1974.

“Tourists came down here because of the Ryman and the Opry then,” Ewing explained.

Ewing said before celebrity names, we had celebrity ownership on Broadway in the 1990s, with Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe and NASCAR Cafe.

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“When Planet Hollywood opened, it was an all-star parade down Broadway of Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, and all the stars that owned those bars back then, and we thought we were cool. Now Nashville is the envy of any live music city in the country,” Ewing explained, saying Nashville not only has the music, but the star power to back it.

Now every few steps downtown leads to another venue with a celebrity name attached.

It’s a perk that gives fans a glimmer of hope that their favorite star may just show up at their bar.

“I’m probably going to be here every time I’m in Nashville doing something, because it’s not just a place I stick my name on, I’m a part of it,” said Tanya.

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